TTM Success: Tom Dukes

   Grabbing TTM off the bottom of the pile, this nice return came from Tom Dukes.  He was a relief pitcher in the late 60's and early 70's for a couple of teams including the Orioles.  He didn't have a mainstream Orioles card released during his time in Charm City but was immortalized in the 1991 Crown Orioles set.  

    He was traded to the Orioles along with Pat Dobson in the 1970-71 offseason from the Padres.  He bounced around the league as a relief pitcher but was fortunate enough to be with the Orioles for their 1971 pennant run.  He pitched in two games in the '71 series against the Pirates, throwing four innings of 2-hit ball.                          

In addition to my card, he included a signed custom postcard of himself.

He also answered my question that I included on an index card:

I sent out on November 11, 2023 and got it back on November 27, 2023 for a 14-day TaT. Thank you very much Mr. Dukes!

TTM Success: Dyar Miller

 This was a nice return I got back just before Thanksgiving.  Dyar Miller is known as a very gracious signer and will write a note back to you.  Looking back, it made me smile the day I got it back and it made me smile again when I just looked at it.  He thanked me for being a baseball fan and especially for being an O's fan.  He wrote in the letter that he still follows them closely and was pretty happy the way the season went.  He then wished me and my family to stay safe and healthy and to have a great holiday season. What a class act.

I Sent these cards out on November 6th 2023 and got them back on November 24th 2023 for an 18day TAT. Thank You Mr. Miller!

TTM Success: Paul Mitchell

This TTM was a pretty quick and easy affair.  Paul Mitchell didn't play for the Orioles for a very long because he was shipped to the Athletics in the trade that brought Reggie Jackson to Charm City.  Mr. Mitchell has a nice signature that I wish I had gotten him to also put on an Orioles Crown card.  Beginner's stupidity has led me to make a comedy of errors in sending cards through the mail to get autographed.  You live, you learn that you're a dumbass.

I sent to this 1976 Topps out on November 7th 2023 and got it back on November 21st 2023 for a tidy 14 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Mitchell!

TTM Success: Fred Beene

 This Orioles Crown return was a quick one from former Orioles pitcher Fred Beene.  He also pitched for the Yankees and Indians during his career. He had a respectable 3.63 ERA mostly as a bullpen arm, but seemed to walk too many batters.  I'm mainly focusing on Orioles autographs so I only sent this one card.  He shared his rookie card with another former Orioles star, Terry Crowley. I tend to shy away from getting duo and triple player cards signed through the mail so I decided against sending it to him.  

A fun fact about Fred Beene is that after his playing days were over, he was a Brewers scout for 20 years. On of his most notable signings was Jim Morris when he was originally drafted.  If you remember Jim Morris's story was the subject of the baseball movie, "The Rookie".  Jim Morris had several arm issues, retired and then made his MLB debut 16 years after originally being drafted.

This was one of my first couple of requests that I sent out with an index card question: 

I love that he name dropped Thurman Munson in his response. I appreciate his time to write a well thought out response.

I sent my card and index card question on November 10th 2023 and got them back on November 20th 2023 for a 10 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Beene!

TTM Success: Chuck Estrada

 This TTM from Chuck Estrada came back shortly before Thanksgiving.  I have since already been to a card show and was able to backfill my 1962 Orioles team set with this beauty of a card. '62 Topps has grown on me over the years. Out of the decade of the '60s, it comes in 2nd place to....

1965 Topps.  I'll eventually get around to getting a list put together for what I need to complete it one of these days.

I'm very happy to have these 2 awesome cards autographed and in my collection.  I sent these out on Halloween, October 31st, 2023, and got them back on November 20th, 2023 for a 20 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Estrada!

TTM Success: Charlie Maxwell

 Here's another TTM that came back just before Thanksgiving.  Charlie Maxwell is currently the 8th oldest baseball player at 96 years young.  I've always been a fan of the old school Bowman cards so I'm very glad I could get Mr. Maxwell to sign this one for me.  He only played in 4 games for the Orioles to start off the 1955 season before he was traded to the Tigers.

I sent this one out on November 7, 2023 and it returned signed beautifully on November 20th 2023 for a 13 day TAT.  I paid his requested signing fee of $10.  Thank You Mr. Maxwell!

TTM Success: Paul Gilliford

 This success came back to me a few days before Thanksgiving.  The TTMs have really been rolling in since I started putting real effort into mailing Orioles cards out to the gentlemen that played for them.  This return from Paul Gilliford was the first time I tried a little something different. He never had an official card released to the masses so my options were limited in selecting something to send.  Once again, I'm saved by the cursed blessing, 1991 Crown/Coke Orioles SGA set.  I'm thankful for this set of cards because I have a chance to connect with a handful of nearly forgotten Orioles.  While I was writing my letter of request to Mr. Gilliford, I read that he attended and played baseball at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.  Randy Mac as its known around the area, is about a 35 to 40 minute drive up I-95 from where I live.  Its a very small college that is not well known for its sports endeavors.  

I had a bright idea that day to send a question on an index card in an effort to interact a bit more with him.  Since that day I've included an index card question to each of the players I've sent autograph requests to.  

A bit of a look into the future from this request, the results have  made me smile and chuckle a bit at some of the responses.  Hopefully, the readers of this blog will enjoy the responses as much as I have.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the autographs I've gotten!

Here's my first (of many) index card questions: 

I sent out my card and question on November 10th 2023, and got both back on November 20th 2023, for a speedy 10 day TAT.  Thank you Mr. Gilliford!

TTM Success: Darold Knowles

Darold Knowles was one of the first 1991 Crown Orioles to come back that I had sent out. This is his only single Orioles card.  He has 3 different his "Rookie Stars" cards over 3 separate years. He shares  1964 with Les "Buster" Narum, 1965 with Richie Scheinblum, and Don Buschhorn, and 1966 with Andy Etchebarren.  I don't think I remember seeing a player other than Knowles have 3 straight years of Rookie Stars cards like he had.  Cracking the Orioles rotation or bullpen during the mid 60's was really tough so he played a ton in the minors before he got his shot at the majors.  He only pitched a handful of games in Baltimore before he was dealt to Philadelphia before the 1966 season.  He was a bit of a journeyman around the league during his career but always had good numbers except for one year in 1975 with the Cubs.  He also had 14 losses during the 1970 season but carried a 2.04 ERA. That seems tough to do.

I sent this 1991 Orioles Crown card out on November 10th, 2023 and got it back signed on November 18th, 2023 for an eight day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Knowles!
 

Paid TTM Success: Delmon Young

 This Paid TTM success finally showed up today and it's going right to the front of the queue to be posted.  If you are an Orioles fan or a Tigers fan and were watching the playoffs in 2014 you'll understand why this card carries such importance to me. Sure, Delmon Young has been a lightning rod of controversy over the years but nobody will ever be able to take his heroics in the eighth inning of Game Two of the ALDS away from him.  Bar none, this was the best baseball moment I have ever seen in person and it will be incredibly difficult to top. I can think of a few scenarios that I'd love to see but I'll leave that to the baseball gods!  

I am incredibly fortunate to be able to be able to share this moment with William of foul bunt.  He also sent to the same signing and you can read his recap here. We have been to Orioles Fanfests, minor league games, major league games, card shows and even made detours during family vacations to be able to be able to meet up and hang out.  Baseball has brought me a lasting friendship and I am grateful for that.

If you go to Youtube and type in Delmon Double, you'll pull up at least a half dozen videos of the hit.  Here's the MLB video of Delmon's Double:

Here's a longer, more analytical version dissecting the hit from a Youtube channel that I enjoy watiching: 

I gladly paid $25 to get the card signed.  His signature isn't the best and the card is a little dark and not quite what I usually like to send out but I could not pass on the opportunity.  Now somebody needs to get JJ Hardy to do a signing so I can get the slide part of this play inked.

TTM Kinda Success: John Papa

 Here's my first kinda success I had show up in the mailbox from John Papa.  I call it a kinda success because he signed the index card and not the card itself.  I alluded to it in my post from last night and I quit the practice of attaching the cards to index cards for protection cold turkey.  Between the time I sent this card out and it returning, I started to run low on photo corners so I searched 3 retail stores and finally made an Amazon order to get more.  The new pack now sits in my supplies drawer, unopened. Oh well, I'll use'em for something. 

Sure, I'm a little disappointed that this particular TTM didn't turn out the way I wanted.  I learned from my mistake and I'll try again in the near future.  Plus, I can't be too mad at one of the two Orioles who of which  I share a birthday.

I mailed this card out on November 8th, 2023 and got it back November 18th for a 10 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Papa!

TTM Success: Mel Held

 This was one of the first Orioles Crown card that I sent out after I decided to get as many of them signed as possible.  Obviously, I'll never be able to complete the set of them since players passed away before the sent was printed in 1991 and may have passed since.  I haven't pulled the exact numbers of what is still possible, but I'm going to try to send to as many of the living players that have a card in the set as I can.  For those who don't know, The 1991 Orioles Crown / Coca-Cola set was printed in 4 separate series, in mostly alphabetical order and ended up with 501 cards.  It pictured EVERY player that had played for the Orioles since they moved to Baltimore in 1954.  I'd estimate 95% of the players are shown in an Orioles uniform.  

For me, this set is a double edged godsend/curse.  There are some players in the set that never had a mainstream Orioles card issued and some never had anything issued with their picture at all.  It has afforded me the opportunity to research, learn about them, write a letter, obtain the autographs of guys that are somewhat obscure.  I realize that most teams have never had a set released like this so I feel fortunate that this set exists.

Mel Held is one of those obscure players.  He pitched four games during the 1956 season and that was the entirety of his whole MLB career.  The card below is the only card that exists of him (that I or COMC, etc. knows of). As you can see, I was attaching these Crown cards to an index card with photo corners to give them a bit of protection while going through the mail.  You'll see soon why I quit doing that.  

I sent this card out on November 8th and got it back on November 18th for a 10 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Held!

TTM Success: Tim Nordbrook

I've started to fall behind a bit on posting my TTM successes.  I'm about a month behind but I'll catch up eventually.  I got this success back from Tim Nordbrook.  He was born in Baltimore and was somewhat of a rookie sensation when he made his debut.  Unfortunately for him, sustained success did not come and he was out of the league with in 5 years.  It was tough for young players to gain a foothold in the majors with the Orioles at the time with the great lineups that they had back then.

I had actually met Mr. Nordbrook at one of the first few Orioles Fanfests that I went to in the early 2010's.  I got his autograph on the Orioles alumni postcards that they usually hand out. I had no I idea who he was at the time.  I'm glad I've been able to learn much more about the Orioles players through plain curiosity and doing a bit of research before firing off a letter to them.

I sent this 1976 Topps out on November 6th, 2023 and got it back on November 18th, 2023 for a 12 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Nordbrook!

TTM Success: Don Ferrarese

I was thrilled to have this TTM from Don Ferrarese come back.  I really like the style of 1957 Topps and the photography and poses for the time were outstanding.  As of today, Mr. Ferrarese is the 22nd oldest MLB player alive at 94 years and 178 days young.  I've did a little bit of reading up on him before I sent and he just sounds like an all-around good guy.  He got his start in the major leagues as an Oriole and then moved onto Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Judging from his stats it seemed like was a pitcher who was a swingman.  

Once again my scanner decided to crop the bottom of the card off.  Its not as off center top to bottom as it looks here.

He also included this postcard sized advertisement for his biography Big Leagues, Bigger Heart.  All proceeds from the book goes towards the college scholarship fund that he set up years ago.  I have asked for the book as a Christmas gift so in a couple of weeks hopefully I'll have some good reading material. Otherwise, I'll probably go ahead and buy the book myself if Santa doesn't come through.

He also included his signature on an index card without me asking.

I sent my card out on October 27th, 2023 and it returned on November 11th, 2023 for a 22 day TAT. Thank You Very Much Mr. Ferrarese
 

TTM Success: Bill Dillman

The TTMs have been rolling in lately.  I've put in a good effort to get as many of the older gentlemen that played for the Orioles.  This one came in from Bill Dillman.  He only pitched 2 seasons in the majors (1967 and 1970)  and got into 50 games.  

Another awesome looking 1968.  Its not nearly as off-center as the scan looks.  My scanner was late reporting to work that day.

Curiously, Bill was included in 1969 Topps even though he didn't throw a major league pitch in 1968 or 1969. 
 

I sent these cards out on November 3rd, 2023 and they returned on November 16th 2023 for a 13 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Dillman!

TTM Success: Bobby Floyd

This TTM Success came back from former Oriole Bobby Floyd. Since Mr, Floyd only has one Orioles card where he is pictured by himself and I am (mostly) only interested in autographed Orioles cards as TTMs, my options were limited.  I also wasn't sending a 1969 Topps that he shares with Larry Burchart and some guy named Rollie Fingers ( I wonder how he turned out).  That's a high number card and he isn't pictured alone. That's all fine and dandy, because I tend to enjoy 1970 Topps and they look pretty darn good signed.

Bobby Floyd moved onto the Royals in a trade which brought relief pitcher Moe Drabowsky back to the Orioles.  It would have been tough for Bobby to shoulder his way into the infield mix with Brooks at Third, Mark Belanger at Short, Davey Johnson at Second, and Boog Powell at First.  The outfield was just as crowded with Merv Rettenmund, Paul Blair and Frank Robinson.  An embarrassment of riches that Earl Weaver had to work with during that Golden Era.

I mailed this card out on November 4, 2023 and it returned on November 16, for a 12 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Floyd!

TTM Success: Merv Rettenmund

 A recent TTM success I had come back to my mailbox was from Merv Rettenmund.  Both of the cards I sent turned out beautifully.  Merv played for the Orioles in the late 60's and into the early 70's before he was traded to Cincinnati.  He played a key role as an outfielder on those great Orioles teams from that time period.  

I'm not the biggest fan of 1972 Topps but I think this card turned out great. The nice blue Sharpie signature compliments the light blue (nearly teal) frame nicely.

I'm a bigger fan of 1970 Topps.  Gray isn't always my go to color but for the design of the card I think it works.

I sent these 2 cards out on November 4th, 2023 and got them back on November 16th for a 12 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Rettenmund!

TTM Success: Al Bumbry

Today is the last of the TTM requests I sent out back in 2014.  Coincidentally, I am posting this success on the same day as another request to him was just picked up from my mailbox.

Al Bumbry is often forgotten as an Orioles star from the late 70s and early 80's, The O's had plenty of star power that included Brooks Robinson Reggie Jackson, Eddie Murray, Ken Singleton, Dennis Martinez,  Jim Palmer and Cal  just to name a few. Its not hard to see how you could get lost in the mix when you mention those guys.

Bumbry stands on his own as a great Orioles player.  He had one All-Star appearance in 1980 and won the World Series in 1983.  He was a great table setter for many of the greats that I named above.

He lives in Maryland so it's not unusual to see him at Orioles events including Fanfest, and Charity Events.

1981 Fleer

1981 Fleer has its faults but this is a nice card if Al smiling into the stands as his picture was snapped.

1981 Topps

Here's a good action shot of Bumbry.  It looks great signed.

He also added an signed Orioles postcard to the package.  I pleasant surprise!  The Orioles have always seemed to do a great job of helping out collectors over the years and having these postcards available at team events.  I've got a ton of them from Fanfest and various other team events.

I sent my cards out on December 17th, 2014 and received the return package on March 9th 2015 for an 81 day TAT

TTM Success: Jesse Orosco

 I've been sending out a lot of requests to the Orioles retired players from the 50's, 60's, and 70's  but when I saw that Jesse Orosco signed through the mail, I hurriedly gathered a few of his cards to send off.  He doesn't have a ton of cards with him in an Orioles uniform but I decided to rob a few of my complete team sets if cards I wanted to send.  I really enjoyed Jesse's time with the Orioles since he was a very solid reliever with a 3.35 ERA over 5 seasons.  

1996 Fleer cards take to autographs like ducks to water.  With the matte finish and the simple design, they are a simple choice for autograph collectors to use.

This 2000 Topps season highlights talks about whey Orosco made his 1072nd appearance as a pitcher and broke Dennis Eckersley's record.  He extended the record to 1252 career mound appearances that stands to this day. The nearest to active player to breaking Orosco's record is Kenley Jansen with 817 games pitched. 

I mailed these out on October 30th, 2023 and they returned on November 16th, 2023 for a 17 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Orosco!

TTM Success: Gregg Olson

Another TTM came back from my magical December 17th, 2014 TTM blitz.  Gregg Olson can probably be considered among the best, if not THE BEST, reliever in Orioles history.  He was the last Orioles player to win the Rookie of the Year (1989) until Gunnar Henderson this year.  He still holds the Orioles record for saves with 160.  Zach Britton got close with 139 saves for the team.  "Otter" moved onto the Braves and became a Baseball Reference Immaculate Grid cheat code bouncing around to a bunch of other teams to round out his career.  He never had the same success he did as an Oriole.

1991 Donruss Diamond King

I enjoy getting Diamond Kings autographed as I enjoy Dick Perez's baseball artwork.  I'm currently working on completing his run of Diamond Kings from 1982 thru 1996.  I mostly need cards from 1992 thru 1996 when they became proper inserts.  I'd love to get more Diamond Kings signed but you can see that endeavor would get really expensive after a while.

I Sent the card out on December 17th, 2014 and I received it back on January 30th 2015 for a 44 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Olson!

TTM Success: Bob Saverine

Here's another recent TTM I received back.  Bob Saverine was a utility player for the Orioles in the early 60's and then moved on to play for the Senators to finish out his career.  He debuted in the major leagues at the age of 18 in 1959 and was the youngest player to play in an American League game that season.

1965 Topps

1965 Topps is one of my favorite Topps sets of all their designs.  I might get around to trying to work on the complete set at some point.  I know it won't be a high grade set but more of a "beater".  Just having the cards would be good enough for me.  Plus, I already have the "big one" (I need to show it off at some point) from that set so I already have a good jump on it.

1964 Topps

 I do have a lot more of the 1964 and 1963 Topps sets (also in "beater" condition).  I'd probably try to trade the 64's and 63's to try and complete the '65 set.

I send these cards out on Halloween, October 31st, 2023 and got them back on November 13th, 2023 for a 13 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Saverine!